Tomorrow my territory — Action sheets

1️⃣ ANALYTICAL SUMMARY

A healthy living environment as a public health policy

The document starts from an observation: health is the primary concern of the French, and it is closely dependent on the quality of air, water, and soil (p. 38). It is aimed at local elected officials and community services, at the dawn of a new municipal term, on a deliberately broad scope: 23 fact sheets covering energy, food, mobility, climate adaptation, and just transition (p. 3). The central issue is the articulation between ecological transition and health protection: the same sources of pollution, the same levers for action, common vulnerable populations (young children, elderly people, low-income households). The genre of the document is a institutional operational guide with a dual purpose — inspiration and decision support — published by state operators.

Action sheets ready to mobilise

Each sheet follows an identical framework: "Why", "Key figures" sourced, "As an elected official, I can...", "And in practice, what can we do?", then "They are already doing it!" with a named and quantified community (p. 38-41). The operational contribution lies in this granularity: mobilisable devices (OAP environmental health, complementary water controls, land acquisition near catchments), targeted tools (Drias, TRACC, GEODIP) and transferable feedback. The guide finally refers to the network "Elected officials for action" of ADEME (free membership, over 4,000 elected officials) and a page of state resources by theme (p. 98-100).

2️⃣ KEY POINTS OF THE DOCUMENT 

I retain the 5 original health-environment points (fact sheet 09) and I add the factual clarifications you indicate, properly sourced:

1️⃣ Environmental health as a cross-cutting priority — unchanged: 30,000 avoidable asthma cases among 6-11 year olds through better classroom ventilation; 97% of French people prioritising health in local decision-making (p. 38-39).

2️⃣ Indoor air quality of places welcoming young children — unchanged (p. 39).

3️⃣ Water protection through land action + clarification "network losses" : beyond the acquisition of land near catchments (p. 40), the guide reminds that the average leakage rate of drinking water networks reaches 19 % (National Observatory of Water and Sanitation Services, 2024, p. 20) — a source of savings directly linked to the preservation of the resource.

4️⃣ Sustainable food, a health lever framed by law (addition) : 4 billion meals/year in collective catering, ≈ 1/4 of the carbon footprint, with a direct impact on obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases (p. 10). The EGAlim/Climate-Resilience framework recalled (p. 12) : since 2022, school canteens must offer 1 vegetarian meal per week, 50% of sustainable and/or quality products including 20% organic, and 60% of sustainable meats and fish. Average waste: 100 g per meal (p. 11).

5️⃣ Just transition and socio-spatial inequalities — unchanged: 1 in 2 residents of large urban centres within 5 minutes of a green space, 11% of households in energy poverty, GEODIP tool (p. 90-92).

Verified additional factual clarifications (to be integrated according to the chosen angle) :

• Renewable energies (sheet 01, p. 6-7) : 2.9 million homes heated by heat networks supplied by more than 66% from renewable energy sources; 109.5 TWh of industrial waste heat (36% of the industry's fuel consumption); €47 million invested by nearly 34,000 citizens in citizen energy projects. Mentioned support networks: Les Générateurs, France Urban Heat, Shared Energy, MixEnr (EnRézo), BatEnR.
• APER Law (10 March 2023, p. 6) : obligations for solarisation, in progressive stages until 2028, of the parking lots of more than 1,500 m² and the non-residential buildings of more than 500 m².
• Sobriety (sheet 04, p. 19) : 74% of housing is under-occupied, vacant or second homes; 60.7% of the consumption of natural, agricultural and forest areas (2011-2024) took place in municipalities with low property pressure.

3️⃣ ACTION PATHWAYS FOR LOCAL ACTORS

1️⃣ Prioritise greening the areas around schools and nurseries to reduce heat islands and create relaxation spaces, linking health, coolness, and quality of life (p. 40).

2️⃣ Target the indoor air quality of establishments receiving young children : air renewal plan and substitution of harmful cleaning products, relying on the estimation of avoidable asthma cases as an argument (p. 39).

3️⃣ Secure drinking water through a land strategy around catchments : complementary controls to the ARS, acquisition of agricultural land and leasing to operators with respectful practices (p. 40).

4️⃣ Integrate an "adaptation reflex" for vulnerable populations : install reversible geothermal systems and hot-cold networks as a priority in healthcare facilities, create cool islands through de-impermeabilisation (p. 71).

5️⃣ Identify socio-spatial inequalities with GEODIP (geodip.onpe.org) to map energy poverty related to housing and mobility at the block level, then prioritise action (p. 92).

6️⃣ Join the "Elected Officials for Action" network of ADEME (free membership) for webinars, visits, training and peer networking — useful for quickly building skills (p. 98-99). Unmet need : the guide provides levers but few impact evaluation indicators; supplement with a Health Impact Assessment (HIA) approach — see references below.

4️⃣ ADDITIONAL REFERENCES

1. AGURAM, Afut Sud Alsace, ARS Grand Est — Health-friendly urban planning. Better understand & act on your territory. Guide for local authorities wishing to engage (February 2025). Operational framework that extends the Health sheet of the ADEME guide with the 8 axes of the UFS, the articulation of urban planning/health documents and quantified feedback. Verified URL: https://www.aguram.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/20250207_UFS_VF_web.pdf
2. Health Promotion Occitanie & GRAINE Occitanie — Health-friendly urban planning. Resource guide (November 2025). Bibliographic selection and educational tools (including animation games around planning scenarios) for field actors. Verified URL: https://promotion-sante-occitanie.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Bibliographie_Urbanisme-favorable-a-la-sante_202511.pdf
3. French Network Cities-Health — Rethinking the city's actions through the lens of mental health. Examples of Cities-Health actions (2025). Complements the ‘living environment’ section of the ADEME guide with the mental health dimension and the levers of cities/intercommunalities. Verified thematic page: https://villes-sante.com/thematiques/quotidien-et-habitudes-de-vie/sante-mentale/

5️⃣ FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)

1️⃣ How is the quality of air, water, and soil a health issue and not just an environmental one?

These environments perform essential functions (pollutant filtration, drinking water) and their degradation leads to respiratory disorders, cardiovascular diseases, chronic illnesses, and cancers (p. 38).

2️⃣ What concrete action has the best benefit/cost ratio for children's health?

Improving the air circulation and ventilation of classrooms: 30,000 avoidable asthma cases among 6-11 year olds are estimated (p. 39).

3️⃣ How can a municipality protect its drinking water beyond the controls of the ARS?

By carrying out its own controls and acquiring land near water catchments, leased to farmers without pesticides and low in nitrogen (p. 40).

4️⃣ What to do with a polluted wasteland without blowing the budget?

The example of Fourmies shows a decontamination by "biotertre" (biological process), local, ≈ €400,000, with no extra cost compared to a classic project (p. 41).

5️⃣ How to sustainably integrate health into urban planning documents?

Plaine Commune did this through an OAP "Environmental health" in its PLUi and binding perimeters near roadways (p. 41).

6️⃣ How to protect vulnerable people from heatwaves?

By prioritising reversible geothermal energy and hot-cold networks in healthcare facilities and creating cool islands (p. 71).

7️⃣ How to identify the populations most exposed to energy poverty?

With the GEODIP tool from ONPE, which geolocates at the scale of the block the housing and mobility-related poverty (p. 92).

6️⃣ REWRITING IN EASY TO READ LANGUAGE

The guide, in simple summary

This guide is made by ADEME and OFB. It is published in July 2026.

It helps local elected officials to act for the environment.

It shows that the environment and health are linked.

Why it is important for health

Air, water, and soil are important for living healthily.

When they are polluted, we get sick more often.

We can have problems breathing. We can have heart diseases.

What the guide proposes

• Planting plants and trees near schools. This provides shade and coolness.
• Properly ventilating classrooms. This prevents respiratory problems in children.
• Protecting the water we drink. The municipality can buy fields near the water.
• Helping people who are cold at home and have little money.

Examples that are already working

One city cleaned a polluted soil with plants. It cost the same as a normal method.

Another city has set rules to build away from polluted air.

7️⃣ CROSS-ANALYSIS — VALUES OF HEALTH PRACTICES

• Literacy : the format "action sheets" with sourced figures and named examples facilitates ownership, but the vocabulary (OAP, PLUi, TRACC) remains technical and assumes an informed readership (p. 3, 41).
• Empowerment : the guide encourages the involvement of residents (involving residents in energy projects, p. 6) but without a detailed co-design method.
• Participation : concrete mechanisms are cited — conventions and citizen juries drawn by lot and compensated (p. 91), consultation in governance (p. 14).
• Community health : the collective dimension is present through social cohesion, CCAS, third places and associations mobilised in the just transition (p. 92).
• Ethics : the guide acknowledges that not acting would be "unjust" and targets differentiated impacts, without however analysing cultural biases (p. 90).
• Human rights : equity and attention to vulnerable populations (youth, seniors, low-income households) structure sheet 22 (p. 90-92).
• Intersectorality : at the heart of the document — health, urban planning, water, agriculture, mobility, education are articulated in each sheet.
• Partnership : recommended formalised partnerships (prefects, ARS, water agencies, network of Elected Officials for Action), with a dedicated resources page (p. 98-100).
• Combating discrimination : the document addresses socio-spatial and territorial health inequalities, but does not explicitly address discrimination related to origin, disability, or gender.

8️⃣ EVALUATION OF RESOURCE RELIABILITY

Scientific relevance : good. The key figures are dated and sourced (Public Health France 2024, France Strategy 2023, ONPE 2024, 3rd PNACC 2025, Insee Filosofi 2019). Caveat: some recent data (2019) remain mobilised, and the editorial presents a reduction in emissions from 436 to 369 Mt CO₂eq over 2019-2024 described as “15% per year on average” (p. 4) — ambiguous wording: 436→369 corresponds to ≈ -15 % in total over the period, not per year. Internal inconsistency reported, not corrected.

Operational relevance : high. Homogeneous framework, directly mobilisable actions, quantified and transposable examples, referral to state support and funding mechanisms. Limitation: few impact evaluation indicators provided (to be supplemented by an EIS approach).

H. POINTS OF VIGILANCE IN ANIMATION

Not applicable essentially: the document does not address sensitive themes in the sense of the grid (VSS, MNA, disability, LGBTQI+, HIV/PrEP, chemsex).

Nuance to note : sheet 17 explicitly mentions the eco-anxiety (p. 70). In discussions around climate change, certain data (heatwaves, floods, costs ×100 by 2100) can provoke distress or feelings of helplessness among participants. Proportionate caution: balance the “risk” message with concrete action levers and co-benefits, without dramatizing or minimizing.

9️⃣ STRATEGIC HASHTAGS

#healthpractices #EnvironmentalHealth #HealthPromotingUrbanPlanning #HealthDeterminants #JustTransition #OneHealth #TerritorialPrevention #EngagedCommunities

🔍➕ For more information, see the articles referenced by "Health Practices" on the theme of health and work ➡️🔗

This article was developed in accordance with the Charter of the use of artificial intelligence of Health Practices. Click on the image